“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”
What’s with the cold morning? My house was only 62° when I disentangled myself from the dog and the cat huddled beside me. It’s sunny, but the sun is a ruse. The wind, from the north, is a chilly wind, and it blows the leaves to show their backsides. Tonight will be blanket weather, in the mid-30’s.
When I was a little kid, I don’t remember feeling hot or cold or caring one way or the other. In the winter, in the snow, we’d stay outside until our lips were blue. No self-respecting kid ever wasted snow. If my mother hadn’t forced me, I’d never have worn a hat or mittens or even buttoned my jacket. My protests that it wasn’t even cold fell on my mother’s conveniently deaf ears. We were forced to wear layers better fit for winter on a Siberian steppe.
In the summer, we’d get sweaty and filthy, but they were badges of honor, proof we had made the most of our days. I remember the joy of walking in mud and the sucking sound my sneakers made when I lifted them out of the ooze. Sometimes a sneaker got stuck in the mud, and I’d hop on one foot, reach down and pull it out of the muck. It was great fun. To my mother, though, mud was offensive. We weren’t allowed in the house proper and were banished straight to the cellar from outside. My mother met us, stripped us of the offending sneakers and garments, threw them right into the washing machine and muttered to herself the whole time about forever washing clothes and filthy kids. A bath inevitable followed.
I forget how old I was when mud stopped being fun and a stain on a blouse meant it was no longer wearable. It was around the same time that cute matching knitted scarves, gloves and hats became voluntary winter wear. It was the end of my childhood.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
May 10, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Hi Kat.
I’m pretty sure that children do not feel temperature the same way that adults do. Perhaps because children are closer to their animal nature than adults. As children, my brothers and I ran around coatless, hatless and mittenless during the winter. We were never bothered by hot, humid summer days. We just played on through it all.
Right now, I’m feeling really cold and am turning up the heat.
May 10, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Hi Caryn,
Kids are too busy to notice the weather. I think they are preoccupied with life and nothing interferes. Winter was fun. Cold or hot was never part of the equation.
I turned my heat up this morning as well, just after I put on a sweatshirt.
May 10, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Thinking back I can´t remember freezing or being to hot. A way to keep me calm was to drag me out into the sunshine because I always fell asleep when sitting in the sun 🙂 🙂 I do remeber how old I was when I started feeling those things, I was twenty and one day I couldn´t take a bath in the lake near our summer house. That was a strange feeling 🙂
Much the same weather over here today. Sunny, but a cold nortern wind sort of takes the heat away with it. But that made it nice when I mowed my lawn. First time I read “move the lawn” I got a bit puzzled. Why on earth would anyone move their lawn and where to 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.
May 10, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Christer,
Growing up tended to be a drag. We left so much good stuff behind us. I figure getting old means I can do some of the good stuff and everyone will decide I’m old and batty. I will know better.
Cold all day today.
May 10, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Kat said:
It was the end of my childhood.
Well, maybe in one form. But the adult Kat contains the same kernel of fun and abandon that the child Kat had. It is now just wrapped in the trappings and age associated with adulthood. Thank you for the maintenance of that kernel…and exposing the sides/edges/long summer days/winter short ones to those of us who read along with what you write.
May 10, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Thank you, Rick
That is one of my favorite of all comments.
May 10, 2010 at 4:24 pm
How right you are about kids not bothering with the unimportant things such as warmth, cold, or cleanliness. Neither did we worry about germs (unless they were boy germs) warts from toads or strangers. Those were the days.
Great music today!
May 10, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Thanks on the music, Cuidado!
Cooties were something else we didn’t abide, but they were more for harassing than for real. I figure the dirt and the food together must have given us some sort of immunity.
May 10, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Good one today Kat. Yup. End of childhood looks like that and hoping to get Dad’s permission for the family car came next. As you stayed inbetween, the dreams of getting older kept me going, maybe you too. I can’t remember when I stopped making mud pies.
May 10, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Thanks, Z&Me
I used to love mud squishing through my toes. I bet I might just like it still.